Intro to Stress

Emphasis on syllables

What is stress?
Speakers learning English often stress every syllable in a word.
English words can be short or long, but each word only has ONE major stress. Example: WINner, CongratuLAtions

Make the stressed part Looonger and LOUDER. Make the unstressed part shorter and quieter.

Unstressed Vowels
Pay close attention to the vowels a, e, I, o, and u in the following:
atlas, college, tulip, anchor, lettuce

How are the second vowels in each word pronounced differently from the first?
shorter and quieter And it sounds like a different vowel sound

Practice
Find a partner. Take turns reading the following words to each other. Your partner should try to guess which vowel is reduced to schwa in each word. A: distant, illness, cousin, purpose, minute B: palace, socket, promise, ribbon, circus A: advice, escape, disease, offend, suggest B: canoe, dessert, divide, contain, subtract

Think about it
Look back again at the words you just practiced saying. Can you make a rule for which vowel changes to schwa?
The vowels in the unstressed syllables!

Say Hello! to Schwa

In general, unstressed vowels are reduced to schwa // That makes schwa the most frequently used vowel sound in English! Being able to pronounce schwa correctly not only effects the way individual words sound, but also the rhythm of the entire sentence.

Exception
Do all unstressed vowels reduce to schwa? Consider the following:
athlete, contact, celebrate, telephone

The answer, unfortunately, is no.

Some unstressed syllables receive a little bit of stress, we call this minor stress The vowels in these syllables their original pronunciation (but are still softer and shorter)

Ready Set STRESS!

AIRplane BACKache BOOKstore CALendar CLASSroom CONflict conFLICT converSAtion CURious DOCument ecoNOMical graduAtion HAIRcut hiSTORic INstrument JANuary juLY MONday neCESSity ocTOber poLITical PREsent preSENT PROject proJECT RADical reaLISTic reALity

Wheres the stress?

How can you tell where to put the stress on unfamiliar words? Theres no rule that applies all the time but there are some patterns we can pay attention to

Streeeetch it Out!
Whats the difference in meaning between the following words?

PROduce REcord PREsent CONflict PROject

proDUCE reCORD preSENT conFLICT proJECT

Guideline #1: In 2-Syllable words, nouns are stressed on the first syllable (90%), for verbs the stress is on the second syllable. (60%)

Clap your Hands!

How many syllables does each of these words have? Which syllables are stressed?

instrument calendar curious sentiment document

1st Syllable

commercial vanilla develop astonish opponent

2nd Syllable

hurricane appetite crocodile congregate favorite

1st + Minor 3rd

Guideline #2: In 3-syllable words, major stress is often on the first or second syllable. If the major stress in on the first syllable, then the third often gets minor stress.

Nod your Head!

Where is the stress? What else do all these words have in common?

airplane armchair backache bookstore classroom

bedtime birthplace haircut hair-style gold mine

Guideline #3: In Compound words, the first word receives major stress, and the second word receives minor stress.

Why does stress matter here?

Consider the meaning of the following sentences.

Thats a black BOARD. Thats a BLACKboard. He works in a green HOUSE. He works in a GREEN house. I saw a black BIRD. I saw a BLACKbird.

Tap your Desk!

Where is the stress in the following words? Why does the stress move?

Photograph Democrat Aristocrat Diplomat

photography democracy aristocracy diplomacy

photographic democratic aristocratic diplomatic

Guideline #4: Suffixes change the placement of stress in related words. Major stress always falls on the last syllable before these suffixes: -ic, -ity, -ical, -tion

Examples
Can you think of more?

hiSTORic, reaLISTic... neCESSity, reALity... ecoNOMical, poLITical... graduAtion, converSAtion...